Da Lat

Vi slog også vejen forbi Da Lat i vores helligdagsferie, d. 29. april – 3 maj. Da Lat byder på fantastisk natur! – hvilket er lige præcis hvad man har brug for når man er bosat i trafikkerede HCMC. Da Lat blev desuden også stedet hvor jeg, uden at ane det, fik skubbet en del grænser.. & brugt mit varme tøj! Hæh.

Den første dag ankom vi, ligesom i Hué, også til et ordentlig regnskyl, hvilket egentlig passede os fint, da vi så kunne score os en middags lur efter at have været oppe kl. L***, for at skulle til Da Nang lufthavn. Friske & udhvilet tog vi, da regnen var stoppet, på by rundtur, hvor vi besøgte, det i arkitektverdenen noget så omtalte, ’Crazy House’.

Crazy House er tegnet af ejeren, arkitekten Fru. Dang Viet Nga, som har arbejdet på huset siden 1990. Tanken bag huset er at, igennem arkitekturen, bringe folk tilbage til naturen – især i storbrug af broer & tunneler, som bringer ens tanker tilbage til skov & lava-flow. Som kritikerne siger, så kan dette hus beskrives som; ’Arkitekten Gaudi på syre’.

Vi elskede stedet, men mest pga. dens gode udsigt over byen, fremfor selve huset, som vi ærligtalt blev en lille bitte smule skuffet over, da det for os ikke levede fuldstændig op til de fantastiske ting, som vi havde hørt & læst om – hermed dog ikke sagt, at det ikke var fantastisk flot & gennemført rent arkitektonisk, for det var det bestemt! Jeg kunne bare godt liige have tænkt mig lidt mere realisme ift. hele udførelsen af stedets skov-illustrationer.. En altid kritisk frk. Nielsen! Heh.

Til gengæld blev jeg mere end fuldt tilfreds, på grænsen til overvældet, den efterfølgende dag.. Vi tog på Village tour, hvilket jeg, på alle tænkelig måder, vil anbefale folk at gøre! Grib en motorcykel & besøg en landsby! – det var dét vi gjorde, & det var helt fantastisk! Vi så lokale markeder (for dem i HCMC & andre små-store byer tæller ikke som lokale!), den smukkeste natur omkring Da Lat & besøgte lokale, som er så lokale, at de ikke kender til andre lande end Vietnam – udover selvfølgelig USA.. & nå ja, så fik vi delikatesser at spise såsom fårekylling, rotte, slange & frø. Jeg tror ærligtalt aldrig, at jeg har følt mig så beriget af livet, som jeg gjorde på den tur. At se en så anderledes vinkel af livet, som jeg gjorde den dag, satte hele min verden i et meget klarer perspektiv – virkelig..

Yes, Da Lat gjorde det godt.. men peeking-point må være den sidste dag, da jeg tog på Canoying tur i bjergene omkring Da Lat.. Egentlig tog jeg afsted med den indstilling, at turen var billig, & at det derfor, hvis jeg ikke turde nogle af aktiviteterne, stadig var fair for en dag med flot natur. Sådan blev det ikke. Tværtimod.
Jeg havde en modig dag, & hvor var det bare for fedt! – jeg fik i hvert fald skubbet nogle grænser.. mest af alt da jeg stod med vand væltende i hovedet ned af 25 meters klippevæg & opdager at der ikke er mere line, hvorefter jeg så får at vide at jeg ’bare’ skal hoppe de sidste 4 meter ned – jeg troede vitterligt jeg skulle dø. Intet mindre. Aldrig har jeg råbt så højt på min mor, som da jeg fløj baglæns ned i vandet, & aldrig har jeg prøvet noget så fedt! Egoismen tog over, for hold k*** hvor blev jeg stolt af mig selv! Det må man godt. (-;

Starting the day with good traditional vietnamese coffee;

Crazy House, Da Lat;

Village tour by motorbike – and some pretty amazing nature;

Visiting a kricket farm;

Visiting Truc Lam – by cable car;

Canyoning tour – ‘pushing boundaries’;

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We went to Da Lat at our vacation doing the Vietnamese holidays, the 29th of April till the 3th of May. Da Lat has a lot of stunning nature to offer! – Which is exactly what you need when you are resident in the traffic chaos HCMC. Da Lat also turned out to be the place where I, without knowing it at all!, had some boundaries pushed.. & got my warm clothes used! Heh.

The first day we arrived there were a proper downpour of rain, which really suited us fine, since we then could score an afternoon nap after having been up way to early, to leave for Da Nang airport. Later, being fresh and rested, we took, when the rain had stopped, a city tour where we visited ‘Crazy House’. 

The owner, the architect Mrs. Dang Viet Nga, designed crazy House in 1990. The idea behind the house is, through the architecture, to bringing people back to nature – especially in great use of bridges and tunnels that bring your thoughts back to forests and lava flows. As critics says, this house is good described as; ‘The architect Gaudi – on acid’.

We loved the place, but most due of its good view of the city, rather than the house itself, which we frankly were a tiny bit disappointed of. This, because if, for us, didn’t lived completely up to the amazing things that we had heard and read about it – hereby it isn’t said, that it wasn’t fantastic & completed architecturally – it most certainly was! I would just have liked a little more realism in the construction and decoration of the whole performance of the resort forest illustrations.. An always-critical Miss. Nielsen! Heh. 

On the other hand, I was more than fully satisfied, on the border to overwhelmed, the next day. We went on a Village tour, which I, in all conceivable ways, would recommend people to do! Grab a motorbike and visit a village! – It was what we did, and it was absolutely fantastic! We saw local markets (..and those markets in HCMC, and other small-big cities, do not count as local!), saw the most beautiful nature views around Da Lat and visited locals, which is so local that they don’t know other countries than Vietnam – besides of course the United States.. and well, so we got to eat delicacies such as cricket, rat, snake & frog. Yum. I don’t I have felt so enriched by life before, as I did on this trip. To see such a different perspective of life as I did that day, put my whole world in a very manage perspective – really..

Yes, Da Lat did a really good job as a location.. The peeking point on our tour must be the last day, when I took on Canoying trip in the mountains around Da Lat.
Actually, I was going with a attitude saying; that the trip was cheap, and therefore, if I didn’t dared some of the activities, it would still be okay with a day with beautiful nature. That wasn’t the case. On the contrary.

I had a brave day that day, perfect! – I certainly got some boundaries pushed.. most of all when I stood with water pouring in my head down a 25-meter waterfall-cliff, and discovered, that there wasn’t more line, and I was told that I ‘just’ had to jump the last 4 meters down in the water – I really thought I was going to die. Nothing less. I have never screamed so loud for my mother, as when I flew backwards into the water, and I have never tried anything so nice! My selfishness took over, f*** I was so proud of myself! – Totally acceptable! (-;